Not one, but two....

finished objects! Having finished DD`s shawl, I wasn`t overly impressed... it didn`t look that much like the picture on the pattern! I`ve never really been one to block my knitting - having knitted on and off for the last thirty odd years (eeek! that makes me sound old) I can probably count the number of items I have blocked on the fingers of one hand and still have some fingers to spare, but do you know something, I am now a convert (thanks to the wise ones on the knitting forum). I really wish I had taken a before picture, so next time when I get lazy and doubt the need I could look at the difference it made, but I didn`t so I`ll just have to look at the after photo and remember the before.
The Sirdar Luxury Soft Cotton was quite nice to work with on some balls but others split quite a lot, even though it was all from the same batch and dye lot.



My other finished object is in lace, and was rather difficult to photograph. I know it is the wrong time of year for angels and no, I haven`t been doing it since christmas, I just needed a simple straight forward project to get me going again as the main project I was doing was driving me up the wall, and had the window been open, it, complete with lace pillow would have been launched through it, but this little angel was just what I needed and I have gone back to previous project and now wonder what all the fuss was about!.
The glass heads were the clever idea of our lace teacher, who not content with the wooden variety so easily available, approached a glass bobbin maker and commisioned him to make some, they were so popular amongst the members of our lace group that she had to reorder a second batch.

I am not sure how long it will be before I can finish anything else as Dudley, delightful as he is, is such a cuddly cat and we all know how well young cats and knitting go together, it makes me wonder why we knitters have them? He is gorgeous though, and after a little minx whose idea of fun was sinking her teeth into your ankles as you passed, and a previous decidedly uncuddly cat, Dudley is a joy to have around, even if I can`t get much done with a cat in my arms!